Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh: I Can’t Afford Child Support Payments

Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh: I Can’t Afford Child Support Payments

IGOR BOBIC 6:13 PM EST, MONDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Former Rep. and Tea Party darling Joe Walsh has filed a request in Cook County Circuit Court to cease paying child support payments because he is no longer employed, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Monday:

In a Feb. 1 court filing entitled “motion to terminate child support obligation,” Walsh’s attorneys asked to change his support requirement, which under a previous agreement, was to continue until May.

“Joe’s employment has been terminated through no voluntary act of his own and he is without sufficient income or assets with which to continue to pay his support obligation,” the filing states. “Due to substantial change of circumstances, Joe requests that his child support obligation be terminated based on his present income and circumstances.”

At one point, the filing asks to amend his payments to be equal to 20 percent of his income — which presumably is 20 percent of zero.

1. Good God man! Grab those bootstraps and pull yourself up! ( n/t )

26. But he is

Of course those bootstraps are attached to the boots he's metaphorically kicking his kids with.

As a 15 year old kid my dad told me that he had a bottle of champagne in the fridge for when I turned 18 and his child support payments would stop. So Walsh can go clean a portopottie with his toothbrush for all I care.

2. Is that a legitimate excuse in Illinois?

27. Where I live

(not in the US BTW) you can't just quit your job and then ask for support payments to be some percentage of your non-existent salary. The judge will take into account how long you've worked, what your average salary was, what the local unemployment rate is etc. I have a few friends whose ex's tried to go from 6 figure salaries to pumping gas to claim poverty so they didn't have to pay, and the judges never fell for it. (My ex once threatened the same thing.)

Plus, if some deadbeat decides not to pay, his wages get guarnished. If he refuses to pay still, (quits, tries serial jobs to stay a step ahead of the judge) his driver's license gets taken away. Somehow, the law has to make it NOT worth it for a non-custodial parent to skip out on their obligations.

30. How about people who are laid off?

Should their drivers licenses be yanked as well? Cause that will really help them get a new job. Or how about those that are so sick that they can't work anymore? Oh yeah....let's garnish the hell outta them too!

And it really makes sense to garnish support against the big, fat $200 a week in unemployment one gets in AZ. That way one can't afford gas or rent or food.

Sensible adults should be able to come to sensible agreements...which includes not putting either parent into the poor house.

35. I've had this conversation with you before.

We know you're bitter that your husband has kids from a previous marriage. Don't take it out on them.

So, let's just pretend I've never explained this to you before....

If someone is laid off and getting unemployment benefits, then they pay the same percentage as before. If the ex was getting 50% of the salary, then they are now getting 50% of the benefits. Now, judges here take this on a case by case basis. If a spouse is ill and on disability, then the ex gets a percentage of that too. The reasons are: the children need to be looked after and if the parents were still together, that money would be going towards the kids, and that kids shouldn't suffer because of the split. I looked it up and they are even more strict than I thought - if someone refuses to pay they can:

•Garnish income tax refunds, GST rebates, Canada Pension Plan income, and Employment Insurance payments;
•The debtor may have his or her driver’s licence, registration, licence plates, or abstracts restricted or suspended;
•Recreational licences for fishing and hunting may be restricted;
•Passports can be revoked;
•Failure to make child support payments may be registered as bad debt and affect credit;

They can also seize assets or prevent a remortgaging. There can also be fines etc.

Keep in mind, that if someone loses their job not of their own doing, support payments will be adjusted accordingly. However, it's on a case-by-case basis with each judge, but all support payments have to follow federal guidelines. If someone quits simply to avoid paying payments, the judges generally can tell and will not take it lightly.

42. ^== This. GREAT answer.

No sympathy for a girlfriend of a guy with kids. Kids *ALWAYS* come first. You pick a man with a previous life, prepare to be second class for the rest of yours. (And the same goes with the sexes reversed.)

38. It's like that in the US, too

41. Does it vary by state?

I was under the impression states varied widely on this issue but I definitely could be wrong on that and am curious at how much it varies state to state. The thing with Canada is while it's technically a provincial thing, there are federal guidelines that must be followed.

5. No pity for him. At all.

I know way too many parents who bend over backwards to make sure their kids have enough -- enough food, clothing, school supplies, shoes, toys, medicines, roof over their head, heat in the furnace, love, encouragement, emotional support -- even those who are separated from their kids, they still make sure the children come first.

Walsh is one of the stereotypical good-old-boy deadbeats, blames his ex for all his own failings, thinks that supporting his offspring means she lives in luxury; thinks if he's out of the house he has no responsibility, that he shouldn't be required to meet his obligations.

Hey, asshole: Quit punishing your kids because you can't grow the hell up enough to take responsibility for your own life.

9. Ha! He lost his job through no voluntary act of his own (except for his extremist nutjob positions).

18. I would say being a nasty, loud mouthed asshole was a totally voluntary act.

He can get a job at McDonalds...oh wait...they wouldn't want him.

He knew his job as representative could be short or not permanent..so why wouldn't a responsible planner save for his unemployment? Yeah! The tea Party knows how to pick em. He should do what ever he preached all the other unemployed people do..and no food stamps.

17. I do not get this at all

I am recently estranged from my husband. We aren't as of yet officially divorced. I willingly pay half of my paycheck for my (step)child as he has autism and has a lot of medical and dietary needs. If I had an official piece of paper, it would probably say I owe less than a quarter of that, and I would still pay what I'm paying. I do it because it's the right thing to do. I left my husband, not my child.

I'm aware that sometimes circumstances make support payments hard, but I have difficulty believing a congresscritter would qualify for that. He makes a heck of a lot more than I do.